Borussia Dortmund - 1. FSV Mainz 05 Tip 27.08.2016

Can Dortmund challenge the champion?

When German Bundesliga starts this weekend, many observers ask the question, whether Bayern Munich will be alone at the top again or whether Dortmund, Schalke, Leverkusen etc. will be able to challenge them. BVB begins the mission “Bayern-Hunt” on Saturday against Mainz.

Current form Borussia Dortmund

BVB invested a lot during the summer. Best-known name on the list of new signees is home comer Mario Götze, who wants to find back to old strengths after a luckless stint in Munich. Götze didn’t see any action yet against his ex-club in the Supercup. His teammates were defeated 0:2, but showed that they are capable of playing on the champion’s level. The new players are supposed to make that happen. Dortmund signed for example Marc Batra, Ousmane Dembelé and Emre Mor. Andre Schürrle also changed into the Ruhr area. Borrussia had to let some pillars go as well. Henrikh Mikhytarian signed with Manchester United and Mats Hummels will be wearing the FC Bayern Munich Jersey this season. Ilkay Gündogan will play for Manchester City. So Dortmund definitely lost quality in the midfield. Additionally Marko Reus might miss the game against Mainz. The captain is not a 100 percent fit yet after injury. The general rehearsal for the season opener went well though. Eintracht Trier didn’t stand a chance in Cup play. Dortmund beat them 3:0.

Current Mainz 05

Martin Schmidt’s team is paining a similar picture to that of Dortmund’s. The Swiss had to let go his most important midfielder. Captain Julian Baumgartlinger signed with Bayer 04 Leverkusen. That’s bitter because of the double burden of Bundesliga and Europe League. It will be interesting to see how the team handles the situation. A possible replacement for Baumgartlinger is Jean-Philippe Gbamin who came from RC Lens. Other signees are José Rodríguez and Christian Clemens. Danish goalkeeper Jonas Lössl is supposed to replace Loris Karius who went to Leverpool. After being a loan last season striker Jhon Cordoba got a fixed contract. When reading all those new names, one can say that Mainz should be stronger this season, but it will be interesting to see, how well the new players can really compensate the former key players. They were only limitedly successful in the German Cup. Mainz 05 had to play overtime against 3rd league team Unterhaching and then only beat them after a penalty shoot-out 7:5. If they want to win against Dortmund in Signal-Iduna-Parc Mainz will have to perform much better.

Betting forecast

Both teams signed interesting new players, but also had to let key players go. From what we saw from both teams so far, Dortmund is the favorite for the game. We believe that BVB will justify that role. Therefore our recommendation: Tip 1.